Lord Val Karem and a delegation from Karemdhâron were attending the coronation celebrations of the new Queen when the whole wedding party was arrested by the Queen's mercenaries.

What happened next:

Lord Val Karem was lead to a cell in the lower parts of the castle. "Get in there, old man" the guard said, "don't trip over your stick". Slowly, leaning on his staff, the Lord entered the cell and the jailor locked the door. Two of his company, a handmaiden to Lady Val and the war veteran Captain Endbeek were already in the cell. "What shall we do now, my Lord" the captain asked. "We will wait." the Lord answered.

After two days of waiting the captain grew increasingly restless "My Lord, I think it is time for us to try to break out. And our odds are not that bad. Maybe we could bait the dog with one of these old bones to bring over the keys." Lord Val Karem looked at the captain doubtfully. "Or, maybe, we could pry open the door. These are half-pin barrel hinges.With the right leverage the door will lift free. I have seen it before!"

"What are you talking about. You are talking utter nonsense, my friend. Where have you seen something like this working in real life?" the Lord replied, now slightly angered.

"Well, not in real life, but I saw a play once, a Loreesi travelling theatre showed a play where the heroes escape from a cell by lifting the door off the hinges because one of them helped build the prison and knew the weakness of the door."

"It seems I not only have to question your sanity, but also your taste in the arts, captain. Why would you attend such an unbelievable show?"

"To be honest, it was more the company than the play that got me interested, if you know what I mean."

"I see" the Lord answered, smiling knowingly. "But you are right, it is time to leave. And although leaving through the door would be one possibility, we would have to fight our way through half the castle."

"But how else would we leave here. If we were to dig through the walls or the rock it would take ages."

"Have you not noticed that most of the other cells here are empty, and their doors wide open. This dungeon hasn't been used as a prison for a long time. It is used mostly for storage, since the new dungeons was built."

"I have noticed that, but I cannot see the relevance. How does this help us escape?"

"Have you ever heard the story of how I injured my eye?"

"The way I heard it you were attacked by wild animals when you fled south in your youth."

"Yes. I travelled through outlaw territory after escaping from prison. This prison to be precise."

"But if you always knew a way out, why didn't we flee the first day?"

"Because tonight horses will wait for us down by the river, and a ship by the shore will bring us back to the mainland before the dawn. Ever since I heard of that bloodbath at an outlaw wedding a few weeks ago I thought this could easily happen at the coronation as well - I was not the only one who questioned the motives of our new Queen. So I made preparations in case something should happen at the coronation."

"I admire your foresight milord, but how DO we get out tonight?"

"Before I was imprisoned here a long time ago, I was a guest at the King's court and spent many days in the Royal Library. This castle was originally built by a Lord Hevalog Vetnarri of Ang-Mopokk, and one of his mottos was: Never build a prison you can't get out of. So I assumed there is some way out of here besides that door. How is your strength?"

"I am as strong as I can be - this walking stick was just to feign weakness in front of the guards"

"It looks as if we both had the same idea... now help me pry open that stone panel on the wall and let us leave!

Lord Val Karem and Captain Endbeek used their staffs to heave the panel from the wall to reveal a small and overgrown tunnel leaving out of the cell.

"Milord, shouldn't we also free Lady Val and the rest of our company? I know we can't free everyone, but we should not leave our people behind?"

"Do not worry, captain. If everything goes according to plan they will await us by the horses."

"But how ..."

"Let us just say that I wasn't alone when I fled from this prison the first time, if YOU know what I mean."

It was fun to get a glimpse of Mitah's history in this MOC. Excellent build, and I'm glad to see another entry for Lenfald. It seems as though we're making a nice little surge at the end of this competition!

Yes! We finally learn how Mitah lost his eye. Great story - I picked up on:Pirates of the Carribean: both the ride and the movie Curse of the Black Pearl = bait the dog for the keysLord of the Rings: The Two Towers = feigned weak to keep the staffPirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl = leverage on the half-pin barrel hingesHamlet = Loreesi travelling theatre showed a play which leads to the solution; and the reference to "have to question your sanity" Game of Thrones: The Red Wedding = outlaw massacre at a wedding

Caelan wrote:Yes! We finally learn how Mitah lost his eye. Great story - I picked up on:Pirates of the Carribean: both the ride and the movie Curse of the Black Pearl = bait the dog for the keysLord of the Rings: The Two Towers = feigned weak to keep the staffPirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl = leverage on the half-pin barrel hingesHamlet = Loreesi travelling theatre showed a play which leads to the solution; and the reference to "have to question your sanity" Game of Thrones: The Red Wedding = outlaw massacre at a wedding

Ding ding ding ding ding - we have a winner!

There is one - rather important - reference missing, but since it is kind of meta I let it slide.... the linked picture of the cake for the winner was the cake from Portal. And since that cake was a lie, no cake for you.